Apologies can be a polite way to express concern when you make a mistake or when something accidental happens. While it may be a natural reaction for many people after knocking something over or bumping into another person, even if it wasn’t necessarily their fault, apologizing should be something you avoid after a car accident, as it can create complications in any personal injury case you choose to pursue.

At Shrager & Sachs, our Philadelphia personal injury lawyers have extensive experience advocating on behalf of victims injured in all types of car accidents. Throughout the years our firm has been serving residents of Pennsylvania and beyond, we have seen victims make various mistakes that jeopardize their rights simply as a result of their unfamiliarity with the personal injury claim process, as well as their lack of knowledge regarding the unsavory tactics of insurance companies. Apologies are among the most common.

Birth injuries can result from a range of negligent actions and conduct during pregnancy, labor, and delivery – including the improper use of forceps and vacuum extractors. While both of these medical devices can assist physicians during difficult deliveries, they must be used in accordance to strict standards. When medical professionals fail to use forceps or vacuum extractors properly, they can be held liable for preventable birth injuries, including those resulting in long-term and life-altering effects on children and their families.

At Shrager & Sachs, our Philadelphia attorneys have established our firm as a proven practice capable of protecting the rights of victims who suffer preventable harm due to medical malpractice. Over the years, our team has been dedicated to protecting the rights of families who have suffered injuries and losses as a result of substandard medical care – including substandard care resulting in preventable birth injuries. In birth injury cases involving forceps and vacuums, we closely evaluate the facts and circumstances at hand to hold treating nurses, doctors, or other medical professionals accountable for their negligence.

Forceps Injuries

Forceps are devices that enable a physician or health care provider to guide a baby’s head through the birth canal, and are typically used during difficult deliveries, when a mother has become exhausted, and when other factors or complications are present. Because the head and neck of a newborn are incredibly fragile, forceps must be used properly without applying excessive pressure or twisting. They must also be correctly positioned, as incorrectly placed forceps can cause catastrophic injury, and used at appropriate times.

Trucks, tractor-trailers, and other commercial vehicles that transport goods and products use our public roads and highways on a daily basis. Because they’re much larger, heavier, and slower vehicles than passenger cars, pickup trucks, and motorcycles, they also pose innumerable risks to those around them, including the threat of catastrophic injuries or death when vulnerable motorists are involved in trucking accidents. To manage these risks and protect the rights of accident victims, the federal government and states across the country enforce a number of laws and safety regulations.

At Shrager & Sachs, our Philadelphia personal injury lawyers know the regulations governing truck and commercial vehicle safety, as well as the laws and legal standards that apply to personal injury cases involving victims who suffer harm in preventable truck accidents. In fact, our legal team has extensive experience representing victims of commercial trucking accidents, and Partner Rob Sachs has shared his insight on litigating these cases at public speaking engagements and legal seminars across the country.

Birth injuries are never an easy experience, especially when those injuries result from preventable acts of negligence committed by the medical professionals in whom you placed your trust during such an important time. While families are tasked with rebuilding their lives and finding ways to manage life-altering repercussions, it is also important to understand they have legal rights when birth injuries are preventable – rights that can not only provide them with a sense of justice, but also the compensation and resources they need to navigate their futures.

At Shrager & Sachs, our Philadelphia birth injury lawyers are passionate about serving as the advocates and support system families need during difficult times. Backed by decades of combined experience and a reputation for handling challenging medical malpractice cases, we understand the vital role we play in guiding birth injury victims through their personal and legal journeys, and why it becomes so critical for families to assert their rights as a means to seek the justice and compensation to which they are entitled.

Monitoring an unborn baby’s heart rate during labor and delivery can alert nurses and medical staff to potential complications and medical emergencies that must be promptly addressed. Should a baby’s heart rate become too high or too low, for example, it may indicate fetal distress caused by oxygen deprivation and the need for an emergency C-section.

In order to ensure a baby is tolerating the birth process and identify any complications, nurses and staff use electronic fetal heart rate monitors. These devices provide readouts that must be interpreted by attending medical staff. Should they fail to read fetal heart rate, or interpret readouts properly, they can miss signs of distress and opportunities to avert serious, neurological injuries that could have otherwise been avoided.

In December, an Amtrak train from Portland, Oregon derailed off a bridge outside of Tacoma, Washington, killing 3 victims and injuring over 60 others. In the wake of the tragic crash, initial investigations have showed that the train was traveling nearly 50 miles per hour over the speed limit when the incident happened – a discovery many safety advocates say should never happen with the advent of new technology and policies.

In recent years, train accidents like the Washington Amtrak derailment have happened frequently across the U.S., often with devastating results. This includes a 2015 Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia that killed 8 victims and injured more than 200 passengers, and a Metrolink collision in Chatsworth, California that resulted in 25 deaths and 135 injuries. In both of these crashes, engineers had become distracted. Federal officials also stated they could and should have been prevented.

Our attorney, Robert L. Sachs, Jr. recently joined the Rideshare Law Group project. The Rideshare Law Group is made up of personal injury lawyers who have a passion for providing legal assistance to people who have been injured in rideshare accidents and are not sure how to handle the complications that often comes with these types of cases.

When rideshare companies are involved in an accident case for one of their drivers, insurance settlements and injury claims become even more complicated than your standard accident case. Not only do these cases become more complex when rideshare companies are at the table, but the accident victim tends to get offered an unfair settlement amount that won’t even cover their injury expenses.

The attorneys at the Rideshare Law Group take on cases all over the country and have familiarized themselves with rideshare insurance policies and the practices that are commonly used by these companies when they offer an accident victim an unfair settlement award.

Hospitals are an important piece of our health care industry, and they play an important role in treating patients who often require serious or immediate care. While we can’t expect hospitals to successfully treat every patient all of the time, we can certainly expect them to take reasonable measures in protecting patients from preventable harm – it’s their legal duty. Unfortunately, two hospitals in Philadelphia fell short in that regard.

According to recently released data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), two Philadelphia hospitals are being penalized for excessively high rates of infections and injuries among patients treated at those facilities. Albert Einstein Medical Center in North Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Hospital in City Center are among more than 750 health care facilities nationwide being penalized through a program established under the Affordable Care Act (the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program), which was designed to decrease preventable injuries, infections, and blood clots in the American healthcare system. Under that program, facilities like Pennsylvania Hospital and Albert Einstein Medical Center will receive reductions in Medicare payments.

In recent blogs, we have discussed how corporations, lobbyists, and politicians push for legislative changes that restructure our civil justice system in a manner that benefits themselves – even when it comes at the expense of everyday Americans and victims of negligence. Prime examples of these changes relate to tort reform, which have succeeded in state legislatures across the country passing unfair laws that limit the amount of compensation victims are able to recover after being harmed by negligent health care providers.

Today, more states than not impose some type of damages cap on medical malpractice cases. Most of these states limit non-economic damages – which are the types of intangible losses victims and families suffer after preventable injuries, such as mental anguish, loss of quality or enjoyment of life, and their pain and suffering. Some even limit total damages that can be recovered, including economic damages. Should one particular bill making its way through Congress be passed (the “Protecting Access to Care Act”), these caps could be placed on medical malpractice and nursing home injury cases nationwide.

The unfortunate truth is that money is continually flooding into American politics – and that money can be traced back to lobbyists and corporations that have financial interests in limiting how much they pay to the victims they harm, or the victims harmed by their insurance policy holders. The powerful combination of money and rhetoric have succeeded in getting tort reform initiatives and damages caps to pass in many states, but advocacy efforts are beginning to strengthen, raise awareness, and prompt much needed change.

Cancer diagnoses are never welcomed news, but when timely and accurate, they provide the opportunity for patients to seek the treatment they need and better their prognosis. Unfortunately, medical professionals who provide substandard care during diagnostic testing can strip patients of that opportunity, enable the progression of their condition and suffering, and decrease their chances of recovery.

Because medical malpractice is an area of law which places accountability on health care providers in whom we place our trust, and holds them liable for providing substandard care, victims of cancer misdiagnosis may have the right to seek legal action. Due to the challenging legal and medical issues involved, cancer misdiagnosis cases demand the attention of proven and experienced attorneys.

Our medical malpractice lawyers at Shrager & Sachs fight for patients and families that have suffered at the hands of negligent medical professionals across Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and beyond. Our team understands the elements of providing medical negligence, as well as ways to navigate challenges inherent to complex medical information and disputes over quality of care and liability. Because we know these cases are ones of significant emotional turbulence, we treat clients compassionately, and fight aggressively on their behalves.